Written by

Mary Beth Pfeiffer

Poughkeepsie Journal

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They risk their lives every day in the service of New York's citizens.

But state troopers — ubiquitous in their blue and gold cruisers on New York's roadways — are also well-paid for the job, averaging $112,537 for all ranks in 2010, a Poughkeepsie Journal study of state payroll records shows.

When civilian employees are included in the analysis, the average pay for the agency drops to $98,544 but is nonetheless the highest average in the executive branch of state government.

It also eclipses state legislators by 20 percent and state university professors by 10 percent. As a group, only state Supreme Court and New York City judges, with an average salary of $140,000, made more than State Police officers.

The six-figure average includes sergeants, majors and all other ranking officers and officials above the starting salary; the state's 2,700 front-line troopers themselves earned an average of $101,574.

New York's force is the second-highest-earning state police entity in the country, according to 2009 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, behind first-placed New Jersey but ahead of California, Alaska and Delaware.

Pay is a sensitive issue — two New York State Police contracts expired March 31 — as demonstrated by the hot-potato response to salary questions. Union representatives demurred to civil service officials, who in turn referred questions to the budget office, which demurred to the State Police, which declined comment.

Through a spokesman, State Police Superintendent Joseph A. D'Amico said it would be inappropriate to discuss the "union issue" of pay — and referred questions back to the union.

Hazards are real

In a statement, Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the 3,400-member New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said, "The job of a New York State trooper is one of the most dangerous law enforcement jobs in the United States. ... (They) should be compensated accordingly." Indeed, the hazards are real. Since 2003, 11 troopers have died in the line of duty — including Trooper Andrew Sperr, a town of Greece native who was shot in 2006 by a pair of men who had just robbed a bank in Big Flats, Chemung County. The trooper death toll included two other shootings, six in automobile crashes, and one each from electrocution and a heart attack after a struggle with a suspect.

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But given the pay, benefits and wholly state-funded pension of half-salary after 20 years, many are willing to take the risks and put their lives on the line.

About 15,700 applicants passed the last exam in 2008, according to a State Police recruitment website; since then, just 88 troopers have gone through academy training.

"The question is whether these salaries are necessary to attract the right people for these important jobs," said Robert Ward, deputy director of the Rockefeller Institute, which tracks state fiscal issues. "Most public-sector jobs in New York are highly attractive as evidenced by the number of people applying for them and the rarity of people leaving voluntarily."

A former State Police investigator from Millerton, Dutchess County, insisted that the salaries were warranted.

"It is important for the State Police to attract the best applicants they can," said John Crodelle, a 35-year veteran who retired in 1996, noting that many candidates have four-year degrees (though 60 credits, or two years of college, are required).

"The police job is much more dangerous today than in 1961 when I started," he added. "There are many more high-powered weapons ... and the illegal drug problem is much more severe."

1 in 10 chosen

Ten candidates are processed for every trooper vacancy, with many candidates flunking background checks and tests of their physical and mental competency. If they pass — and, due to fiscal constraints, no one has been hired since December 2008 — the rewards are clear.

Troopers start their 26 weeks of training at $50,374. On academy graduation, their salary jumps to $66,905. And after one year, base pay is $71,261. After five years, it's $84,739. In addition, salaries for downstate troopers are enhanced by higher base pay and "location compensation" — $5,300 in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.

Significantly, overtime isn't the driving factor in high overall State Police pay, the Journal study found, accounting for about 6 percent of trooper salaries, or $5,700 in 2010 on average.

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Dennis Hallion, executive director of the National Troopers Council, an advocacy group, had two words when asked to comment on New York's $112,500 State Police pay: "Not enough."

"There's two things you can't shirk on," said Hallion, a retired trooper from New Jersey. "Public safety and education."

But six figures?

"I think it's too much," said Jada Smith of the city of Poughkeepsie.

Good benefits, too

Besides the salary, a New York state trooper receives generous benefits. Troopers start with 15 days of vacation — and get up to 28 days after 21 years. They also are entitled to 13 sick days a year that can be accumulated up to 300 days; on retirement, 165 days can go to pay health insurance and a fifth of the rest can be cashed in.

Add to this 12 holidays annually, three to five personal days and a $110 bonus to members who stay fit. The state pays to dry-clean uniforms and gives 15 days of bereavement leave.

And troopers contribute nothing toward retirement, with the state kicking in nearly 19 percent of State Police pay — or $106 million last year.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the annual average pay for New York State Police in 2009 was $96,009; first-placed New Jersey earned $96,890. The Journal's analysis for 2010 is higher because state troopers received a 3 percent salary increase in 2010 and the Journal's average included only members who made above the $50,000 base pay; that eliminated troopers who did not work a full year and at least some of those who left service in 2010, as about 125 troopers do annually.

Police and sheriff's deputies statewide receive average pay of $60,940, according to state Labor Department figures.

A spokeswoman for the New York State Police PBA, Michele Matteson Crisafulli, disputed that the trooper salary was the second-highest nationally because troopers work a 2,184-hour year, compared with about 2,000 hours for other agencies. (That translates to 42 hours a week for 52 weeks versus 38.5 hours per week.)

"By our calculations, since New York state troopers work more hours than any other state police agency in the nation, we rank 24th in pay in the nation for hourly rates," she said in an email.

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She declined to provide the rankings, however, saying they were based on data from the National Troopers Council. But the group's president, Hallion, said he had no such data, and Crisafulli declined to answer further questions including whether the union calculation took into account that troopers are paid overtime after 2,000 hours.

But she, like others, cited the risks of the job.

"New York State Troopers are set apart from other state employees in the hazards they face every day, ... responding to emergencies from one end of the state to the other such as 9/11, prison breaks, riots in cities or on Native American reservations, and the fact that unlike other state employees, our members have a greater chance of not returning home to their families."

Few dispute the risks, but they do question the cost.

In response to the Journal's findings, the state's major business advocacy group, the Business Council, called on the governor "to get concessions from every union" in contract talks.

"Businesses and their employees across the state are having to tighten their belts every day," said spokesman Robert Lillpop. "We would expect no less from those who serve at the taxpayers' expense."